Thai food purists may cringe at the idea of drunken spaghetti chicken or green curry chicken burritos, but that hardly means this Thai newcomer should be dismissed. Far from it, for the kitchen at Elephant Jumps produces memorable drunken noodles and a more than credible version of pad thai, among its tempting strictly Thai offerings.

The drunken spaghetti and burritos represent a handful of "East meets West" combinations on the menu, which also lists an assortment of classic Thai dishes, some of the chef's creations, and a few dishes rarely seen on local Thai menus.

It would be easy to feast at Elephant Jumps without even looking beyond the soups, salads and appetizers, which together include enough unfamiliar dishes to pique both curiosity and taste buds:

n The crispy flat bread shrimp, a rectangle of fried flat bread topped with a smear of ground shrimp pairs well with its cucumber dipping sauce;

n The Thai spicy mushroom soup, a smooth brew spiced just enough to please even those who don't relish Thai heat;

n The Thai fresh roll, a skinny version of a Malaysian popiah, a steamed roll filled with tofu, egg, cucumber, Thai sausage and bean sprouts and served with a tamarind dipping sauce;

n The familiar spicy Thai papaya salad, joined by a version that features fried shredded papaya;

n And the golden pastry cup, a small fried pastry cup filled with a mix of minced chicken, onion, pea and carrot is a special treat not often found.

Elephant Jumps offers plenty of choices, which means the diner is confronted with decisions:

n How hot, with four degrees of heat raging from mild to Thai hot (so far heat has come as requested, no easy feat);

n What meat and which sauce, beef, chicken, pork or shrimp stir fried with brown, garlic, of Thai basil sauce or sautéed with peanut mixed vegetables, or fresh ginger;

n The same meat choices with basil fried rice, pineapple fried rice, drunken noodle, fried noodle with brown sauce, stir fried noodles or pad Thai;

n Or what kind of curry, green, panang or red.

For vegetarians, heat can be raised on a number of dishes, such as the drunken noodles with mixed vegetables and a stir-fried dish of mixed vegetables, fried tofu, bail, pepper and onion, but the smooth, almost silky eggplant basil earns stars without any added heat.

It pays to check out the dessert menu. If mango is in season, you will find the familiar favorite mango and sticky rice on the menu, but otherwise Thai custard and sticky rice is a good alternative, particularly if you have never tried Thai custard.

Elephant Jumps is not a restaurant you will suddenly discover while wandering through a shopping center, for it is almost hidden at the very back corner of the Yorktown Shopping Center at the intersection of Arlington Boulevard and Gallows Road, but once you know where it is, that back corner is worth investigating.

The restaurant is relatively small, 32 seats in all, and simple, in a comfortable, homey way. This is a "mom and pop" operation at its best, with great care and attention to freshness, detail, taste and service. And it all works, even the drunken spaghetti chicken and the green curry burritos.

Elephant Jumps

8110A Arlington Blvd., Falls Church

Phone: 703-942-6600

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Fri.;

11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Sat.; 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sun.

Price range: moderate (entrees, $11.95-$13.95)

www.elephantjumps.com